Confusion about sedation

Confusion about Hayek’s Confusion: a Response to Morison

In my article, Hayek, the Common Law, and Fluid Drive,1 I criticize the argument Friedrich Hayek presents for the “law of liberty” in the first volu m e of Law, Legislation and Liberty.2 I suggest that Hayek confuses customary law, which he refers to as “grow n” law , with modern common law, which he refers to as “ju d ge-m ad e” law , and writes as though these distinct types of law were ident...

Quorum sensing and the confusion about diffusion.

Two hypotheses, termed quorum sensing (QS) and diffusion sensing (DS), have been suggested as competing explanations for why bacterial cells use the local concentration of small molecules to regulate numerous extracellular behaviours. Here, we show that: (i) although there are important differences between QS and DS, they are not diametrically opposed; (ii) empirical attempts to distinguish bet...

Reducing confusion about post-cardiotomy delirium.

5 Cardiac surgery is one of the most common reasons for elective admission to the intensive care unit in Australia and New Zealand. Post-operative delirium (POD) is a common complication after cardiac surgery and is associated with prolonged mechanical ventilation,1-3 increased ICU4,5 and hospital lengths of stay,6,7 and possibly long-term cognitive and functional decline.8 We review the defi n...

EUS: confusion about terminology and its consequences.

On a confusion about a function of consciousness

Consciousness is a mongrel concept: there are a number of very different "consciousnesses." Phenomenal consciousness is experience; the phenomenally conscious aspect of a state is what it is like to be in that state. The mark of access-consciousness, by contrast, is availability for use in reasoning and rationally guiding speech and action. These concepts are often partly or totally conflated, ...